


Stranded

by guavie



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-29 04:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18771670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guavie/pseuds/guavie
Summary: Follow YoRHa Unit G No. 17 as she tries to come to terms with being abandoned on Earth and the loss of her fellow Gunner Units. (Starts three years before the events of Automata but will eventually be post-canon.)





	Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> Hey G17 basically was a self-insert with the purpose to just be there to romance 9S, but she's her own character now. She'll still romance 9S though, that's not gonna change, (But there's a long time before that's gonna happen.) Also I mostly just wrote this for myself so it's pretty self-indulgent but eh..?

January 19th, 11942: 3:07pm_

 

… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .

..CommeNcing System ChEck….. …...

MeMoRy uNit: GreEn...

…InitiAliZIng TactIcs Log..

...LoAding GeOgrAphic DatA: ERROr…

… VITals: ReD…...

RemaINing MP: 100%...

..blaCk BoX tempERatUre: NOrmAl..

BLAck… bOx InterNal PrESsure: .. NormAl..

ActivAting IFF..ERrOR…

..Activating FFCS...ERROR

..Launching DBU setup.. ERROR...

Activating Inertia Control System… ..ER.ROR..

.. …ActivATiNg EnvIronMentAl sEnSors… ERroR

EquIPmeNt aUTHenticAtiOn: erROR.. …

eQuiPmEnt StaTus:.. ....ERRoR…

All Systems ……….......… ........ G(re)d)?@1EN…..

...CoMb!At PrEpAR@ ….tIoNs  cOmP LetE_

 

“AAAUUGGHHHGH!!” An android screams in excruciating pain as her eyes bolt open beneath a blindfold. Her visual systems are in deep need of service, but through the glitching imagery she is greeted with is the sight of androids...A pile of unmoving and possibly dead YoRHa Type Gunner Units. The same model as her own..?

 

The android grits her teeth, and tries to sit up. Her motor functions are in the red, however, and she immediately feels nauseous and slips onto an android underneath her. Warning messages begin to flash in her HUD menu, warning her to fix her inertia settings as quickly as possible.

 

Using the visor, she tries to connect several times to the Bunker, to contact the Commander, an Operator, anybody; the android realizes she’s offline, but decides to ignore the issue for now.

She clutches her eyes shut and gasps out for air, trying to cool down her suddenly overheating circuitry. Why did her body start up under these disastrous conditions? What exactly is going on? The android searches through her memory data to find something, anything, to explain her current situation.   

 

But... There’s something wrong with the android’s memory data. It’s fuzzy, and perhaps... No. Something has _definitely_ been wiped. The last thing YoRHa Type Gunner No.17 remembers is being prepared for deployment to Earth, and nothing after.

 

The Commander had gathered the entire Gunner squad for an important mission. They were to dispose of a Goliath Class Machine that the normal Attacker Types couldn’t get near. It emitted a power EMP blast within a certain radius of itself, and could only be destroyed by a barrage of heavy artillery. It was nearing in on a transport base, that if destroyed, would cause the loss of precious materials for the humans on the moon.

 

So just what occured between the moment when they left the Bunker and the moment where the lone android had awoken in unknown territory? G17 tries to determine what could have happened, but her cognitive functions are acting up due to her critical condition.

 

It’s almost as if she slammed into the Earth from a distance no android could’ve ever hoped to survive.

 

...

 

Were...

 

...

 

Were the Gunner units being... decommissioned?? Why? What did they do wrong? And why did only G17 wake up?

 

...

 

"Five..!?" G17 calls out, her voice weak. "Eight.? Nineteen?? Is anyone else there? ..uh.. Twenty-Two!? Guys, if this is a prank, I don’t appreciate it..."

 

No response is returned.

 

Despite her barely working motor functions, the android manages to lift up a hand to touch the shoulder of a G-Unit lying next to her. It’s cold, as if it were powered off for an extended period of time.

 

...

 

G17 agonizes what could have happened to her and the others.

 

...

 

And then the answer hits her. Harder than the fall to Earth did.

 

Around a month ago, an assault on Pearl Harbor had taken place. Prototypes of all different models had been sent to attack the machine lifeforms that had overtaken the base.

 

Several of her own had gone of the mission. They hadn’t come back. Anti-air defenses had taken all but one of the Gunners out, leaving only her and three other YoRHa units to fight on the surface.. But even No.16, hot-headed and self-proclaimed leader of the G-Units, couldn’t survive the treacherous battle. Somehow the mission was a success, but it was at the cost of everyone’s lives.

 

Command had explained no signals were received from the group while they were on Earth, and thus no help was sent. Everyone had been content with that answer... But the Gunners who lost their lives wouldn’t have been. And that’s exactly why the rest of the remaining G-Units weren’t either. The lone android, G17 included.

 

Maybe that’s why the G-Units were abandoned. Sure, they all had a bit of a problematic streak, but that was programmed into their personalities. Because of this human-like flaw, there was a familial camaraderie amongst the Gunners. Old world data taught them to consider themselves as sisters.

 

G17 opens her eyes after going through her thoughts. The HUD menu is still flashing warning after warning on her condition. Her pain sensors inflict her body with an indescribable feeling of torture.

 

She can barely move, barely see. Even her aural functions are acting up. G17 isn’t sure if her nanomachines will be able to repair this amount of damage.

 

The android tries to get up again, ignoring the torment that moving brings to her circuitry. She somehow lifts herself from the pile of her crew, and drags herself out of it.

 

G17 gets her body to sit up against a nearby wall of trash. Her vision is hazy, almost all in black-and-white, save for the occasional oversaturated color spiking into the scenery.

 

This isn’t good.

 

Simulations on the Bunker taught the android that when you go colorblind, your body is on the verge of death. But... Perhaps the only thing broken was the visor itself?

 

G17 tilts her head a bit, and unequips the visor hands-free within the HUD. It falls into her lap, and her eyes travel back to the heap of androids in front of her.

 

The visual is still glitching, worse than before. G17 feels a tear slip out from her right eye, that drips down her cheek and onto her dress. She cracks a light smile, the sensation almost feeling pleasant. She’s only barely survived because her sisters cushioned her fall...

 

Maybe... Maybe this whole ordeal was a mistake...! It’s entirely possible that the flight unit carrying everyone was shot down! Or perhaps there was an attack on the Bunker directly, and somehow remote control of the carrier was lost!?

 

Using just about the last of her strength, the android puts her visor back on, and tries to contact command a second time. But there is no signal to latch onto, no open channel to connect to.

 

G17 sits in some junkyard in an unknown location, her vitals in the red, and no way of calling for help.

 

But the worst part is that she’s all alone.

 

Glancing back at her lost companions, G17 truly knows the fact they’re all here like this wasn’t a mistake. If the carrier was shot out of the sky, they all would have blown up inside it together once it crashed. Even if they managed to eject themselves, they wouldn’t have landed in a perfect pile, perfectly oriented in a clear location, in a conveniently nearby trash dump.

 

...

 

This was planned. The coordinates must have been previously discussed by the YoRHa higher-ups, G17 was sure of it.

 

...

 

The android sighs, her head beginning to go blank. It’d be so easy to stop thinking and let go of her life. Then she remembers overhearing the Operators gossiping about “ _pods_.” Units deployed to earth would be assisted with a pod that would provide companionship and ranged combat assistance. This would render Gunners obsolete once the they were out of development.

 

But that still didn’t explain why the G-Units were discarded in the first place..? Why not just reprogram everyone to become an Attacker or Defender? At that point, G17 would have been fine with becoming a Healer.

 

...

 

Warning message after warning message continues to harass G17’s vision. She mindlessly slumps over into the dirt, having no energy to get back up. She decides to survey her surroundings one more time, doing her best to decipher the area despite everything being in black and white, and glitching out like crazy. Besides the pile of Gunners, it’s just trash. Broken metal parts and rusted machine corpses.

 

G17 closes her eyes again, wondering if this will be the last time she does so... But... There has to be a reason she survived... Otherwise the deaths of her sisters who broke her fall would have all been in vain.

 

Searching through the HUD, deep within settings G17 never has access to before, she finds an option to do a full repair and restart. She guesses she’ll go into sleep mode and give energy priority to the nanomachines. It’s worth a shot. But it’s also possible this option could factory reset her.

 

She would lose everything then, the memories of her fellow Gunners, and the wishy-washy revenge plot boiling in the back of her mind. When she wakes up she could be an entirely different person, with different goals, and a directive that could never be fulfilled.

 

How could an android with no memories of being abandoned desire to fight in the name of those who had abandoned her? G17 didn’t really care at this point. That would be the G17 who woke up’s problem.

 

The android looks at the G-Units lying before her, and whispers, “I... If I don’t come back as _me_ , I just... You were all so... important to me, I think, and I’m sorry you wasted your lives on someone like me...”

And with that, G17 selects the option to repair and restart herself.

 

Everything goes black. No more glitched vision, no more sound. It’s dark, and she feels no pain. And then her cognitive functions shut off and the repair begins.

 

\---

 

… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ........ …. .. … . .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………........ .. . … ............  …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ........ …. .. … . .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………........ .. . … ............  …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .… ........ …. .. … . .. .… ............ …. .. … ………………........ .. . … ............ …. .. … ………………......... .. .

………......... .. .

…....

...

..Commencing System Check….. …...

Memory Unit: Green...

…Initializing Tactics Log..

...Loading Geographic Data: ERROr…

… Vitals: Yellow…...

Remaining MP: 100%...

..Black Box Temperature: High..

Black Box Internal Pressure: .. High..

Activating IFF.

..Activating FFCS...

..Launching DBU setup.. ERROR...

Activating Inertia Control System…

.. …Activating Environmental Sensors..

Equipment Authentication:.. …

Equipment Status:.. ....…

All Systems ……….......… ........ [G}re\e!n…..

...Combat Preparations… .. Complete_

\---

 

G17 slowly opens her eyes, noticing a very improved interface. The restart didn't completely repair her, but it got her to a point where she's able to get up and walk around without falling over in crippling pain.

 

She also receives a few warnings about the status of her black box, which must have been outputting full force, directing the nanomachines. As long as she doesn't push herself anytime soon, it should drop down to safe levels eventually.

 

But that hardly matters compared to the fact that all her memories are _intact._ G17 could cry. But instead she calibrates her systems to properly adjust to her environment.

 

She does a few simple exercises like touching a finger to its connecting palm, and holding one eye open at a time to check her motor functions. There's almost a millisecond delay between the thought and the action, but she can suffer through this minor inconvenience for now.

 

The android gets up from the ground, dusting off her dress. The sky is cloudy, allowing the surrounding trash heaps to cast shadows around the junkyard.

 

Just how long had the restart taken? The now repaired HUD states the date and time as being January 30th, 11942: 02:15AM. So...Eleven days..?

 

G17 runs a hand through her hair, and pulls the pins out of a sloppily done bun, allowing her hair to cascade down to just below her shoulders. She messes with the buckle by her collarbone and undoes it. The cropped jacket slides down her arms and becomes another piece of trash in the junkyard. She debates whether or not to remove her corset, but leaves it on for now.

 

Her eyes find themselves staring at the rest of the Gunners. “ _Everyone.. I’m so sorry..,_ ” She thinks to herself. Then she turns to face the rest of the landfill.

 

G17 has never not had orders, so she isn’t sure what her next move should be. But she isn’t going to just sit around and wait for something to happen. She’s too impatient.

 

For now G17 decides to search for any kind of weapon, even only being programmed to handle far-field combat. She’s in an unknown location, and it’s an actual miracle that nothing disturbed her body over the last eleven days. Her luck could run out, and she needs to be prepared for anything.

 

Are there even any machines nearby? Despite having conflicting feelings for YoRHa at the moment, killing machines and protecting humans is part of G17’s programming. And with being stranded on Earth, she’s sure to run into them eventually.

 

G17 digs around various trash piles in the surrounding area, hoping to find anything to defend herself with. But... There’s nothing. Not even a simple iron pipe.

 

G17 isn’t programmed to handle near-field combat like the Attacker and Defender types. But she’s fought side-by-side with them in the simulations. How hard could it be to beat a machine down with a stick? Probably not that hard. She sighs, she’s going to have to do the last thing she wanted to: Raid the Gunners’ corpses and see if they have anything worth using. If they have _anything_ to begin with.

 

The android starts to remove each G-Unit from the pile, and lay them down next to each other; as if they all fell asleep in a neat and organized line. She takes off her personal visor and goes down the line of Gunners, taking off _their_ visors and putting them on. She goes into the HUD menu of each unit and checks their inventories.

 

Most of G17’s comrades data is just as damaged as hers was when she woke up, if not worse. She manages to find a sword in G5’s possession. She wonders why Five had this if she couldn’t use it... She was an incredibly kind and caring individual, but she loved to play tricks on others. Perhaps she was planning an attack of some sort, despite not having NFC capabilities??... Then G17 stops caring and unequips the blade. G5’s active nanomachines materialize the sword in front of G17. She lifts it up and puts it off to the side, for now.

 

Eventually after going through several androids, G17 finds an assault type gun that she’s familiar with in G3’s inventory. It’s a spear gun, one that offers the most versatile features of any Gunner’s weapon. Three was _one_ _lucky bitch_ to get her hands on this. It has the ability to change its bullet type, can shoot almost as far as a sniper rifle, and despite packing a punch, the kickback is incredibly almost nonexistent.

 

G17 unequips G3’s gun, and takes off her visor, putting it back on the dead android’s face. Her eyes trail up and down Three, and G17 reminisces about how G3 was wise, and loved to research the old-world. Everyone joked about how she should’ve been reprogrammed as a scanner. It’s too bad she wasn’t.

 

The android then registers the two weapons she found in her systems. Her nanomachines shrink them out of her hands and then have them hover at her back. She then gets up off the ground, and faces away from the fallen.

 

Her black box pulses with nervous energy as she trails off into the junkyard, away from the only thing familiar to her on this planet.

 

First things first, G17 needs to determine the current state of YoRHa. Were the Gunners truly abandoned? Or was this a cruel mistake?... Deep in her circuits, she knows it’s the former...

 

\---

 


End file.
